Back-To-Back Champs

ST. PAUL — On the heels of making 30+ saves to help her Minnesota Frost team win three consecutive overtime games on the way to back-to-back Walter Cup Championships, goaltender Maddie Rooney was proud and grateful to be part of a group paving its way in history.

But the reality of winning last year’s championship hasn’t full set in, let alone the idea of two titles.

“The fact that we went back-to-back definitely hasn’t hit me yet,” said Rooney, amid the Walter Cup Championship celebration on May 28 on the floor of Xcel Energy Center. “But how cool that years from now, we’ll be able to look back and see our name in the history books as the only team to ever win it within the original six. It’s just so special to be apart of history like this.”

Rooney was one hero of the Minnesota Frost’s Walter Cup Finals series against the Ottawa Charge, making 33 saves in Game 4 on Monday at Xcel Energy Center to earn her fifth consecutive postseason win. All four games were identical in two ways: Each finished in overtime with 2-1 scores. The Frost dropped Game 1 in Ottawa before winning the next three to take the best-of-five series 3-1.

Kelly Pannek hands the Walter Cup to goaltender Maddie Rooney during the on-ice celebration after Game 4. Rooney made 30+ saves in three consecutive starts and finished the postseason with a 1.75 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The win brings the total number of professional women’s hockey championships to three in Minnesota. The Whitecaps won the Isobel Cup in the 2018-19 season during Minnesota’s first year in the then-NWHL, the women’s professional hockey league at the time.

Liz Schepers, for the second year in a row, scored the championship-winning goal for Minnesota. She scored 12 minutes into overtime, getting a couple of whacks at the puck to put it past Ottawa goaltender and Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP winner, Gwyneth Philips.

“That series was a grind. It took everything we had, and then some,” said Schepers, at the Walter Cup Celebration two days after winning the Cup. “Mentally, physically, it was really difficult, and that’s a tip of our cap to Ottawa because they played a great series.”

The Frost trailed for most of the series, needing to tie the game to force overtime and then getting the wins. After dropping Game 1 (Minnesota is 0-4 all-time to open playoff series) early in overtime, the Frost were in danger of staring at a 0-2 series deficit before Britta Curl-Salemme tied Game 2 with 15.4 seconds left and then also getting the overtime winner at 16:24.

Minnesota brought the series home tied at a game apiece, with a chance to clinch on home ice. Game 3 turned into a marathon and the third-longest game in PWHL history at 109:57. Katy Knoll was the hero in that game, scoring at 9:57 in the third overtime to give the Frost a 2-1 series lead.

A year ago, Minnesota though they’d won the Cup in Game 4 before the goal was called off for goaltender interference. So, Minnesota settled for winning on the road in Boston. This time, the only team to reach both PWHL Finals finished the job at home so it could celebrate on home ice with festive fanfare and confetti in front of family, friends and a season-high attendance mark of 11,024 fans.

Liz Schepers (No. 21) scored the game-winning goals in both of Minnesota’s championship-clinching games in 2024 and 2025. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“There was a different hero every single night,” Schepers said. “I think that’s just the difference. We had the confidence, and we’d been there before. We trusted our room a lot. Trusted our depth, obviously. And it paid off.”

Similar story to a year ago
Beyond the obvious similarities – like Schepers netting the game-winning goals and Minnesota winning the championship again as the fourth-place team – Minnesota also kept a similar mindset as it squeaked into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

The common refrain from Minnesota players and coach Ken Klee going back to last spring was that the belief they had in each other, in the team, was always there. No matter the stats, opponent or facing a series deficit. Rooney said it was that confidence, belief and grit helped the Frost win the tightest series they’ve been in with the four-peat of 2-1 games.

“Never a doubt all season long, even when our backs were up against the wall,” Rooney said. “The culture of this group, it just allowed us to prevail in those tough moments.”  

Last season, Minnesota played out the ultimate underdog script on the way to the inaugural Walter Cup Championship after going 0-5 to end the regular season and backing into the playoffs. They followed that was two shutout losses in the first round before winning three in a row. They upset Boston in a five-game series to win the title.

Liz Schepers skates with the Walter Cup above her head to celebrate being back-to-back champions. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Frost didn’t go into a losing skid at the end of the regular season this time, but goal scoring dried up for a time, and they were staring at another scenario of possibly missing the playoffs in the final couple of regular-season games. But they made it, again.

“There’s definitely a lot of parallels you can draw, right?” Schepers said, during the Cup celebration. “Making it at the last minute, being that fourth seed, underdog mentality. Going into the playoffs winning a couple games felt really nice this year compared to last season.

“But our work ethic stayed the same. Our core group knew how hard it was going to be to win. We were able to bring our new girls along with that, and they bought in and there was never a doubt that once we got in that we were really going to make a push. Really happy to do it again.”

Minnesota returned 16 players this season from its championship team last year, including captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, 2024 Playoff MVP Taylor Heise, defender Lee Stecklein (leading scorer in the 2025 playoffs with four goals and four assists in eight games) and Michela Cava, a forward who’s now won five consecutive professional hockey championships with four different teams.

From controversy to a championship defense
The offseason was mired in controversy just days after the celebrating the inaugural championship, as the league in its words “parted ways” with first-year Minnesota general manager and now Hockey Hall of Famer, Natalie Darwitz. The 2024-25 season started with a new general manager in Melissa Caruso and the return of coach Klee. The initial media day in mid-November was the first chance players had to publicly address the controversy that hung over the offseason.

“Those were league decisions,” Coyne Schofield said. “We’re here, and we’re here to play hockey. We’re here to defend our title.”

Minnesota players – with a fresh new nickname and logo this season – looked ahead to the upcoming PWHL season as a chance to defend their championship.

“I just feel like we’ll kind of have a chip on our shoulder knowing teams are going to want to get a little bit of revenge on us from last year,” Cava said, at Frost media day. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to go out there and show everybody that we’re back, and we’re hungry for another championship.”

The Minnesota Frost raised a championship banner before their home opener on Dec. 1, 2024. (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

Minnesota’s season started by raising a championship banner to the rafters of Xcel Energy Center, something that hasn’t been done in the 25-year history of the arena. They got off to a fast start and seemed to pick up where they left off, winning four of their first five games to keep them around the top of the standings.

They played six of their nine January games at Xcel Energy Center and went 2-3-1-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in January. One of the regulation losses was a 5-0 shutout to the New York Sirens on home ice Jan. 4 with a unique goaltending situation after illness had spread through the Frost locker room around the holiday break. After Nicole Hensley was injured in warmups, then-reserve Lucy Morgan got the nod for her first PWHL start, while Rooney – still feeling ill – had to rush to the rink from her suburban home to serve as the backup.

Checkmark for adversity.

The Frost had other tough stretches, struggling defensively in a lopsided, 8-3 loss at Ottawa on Feb. 13. Though the Frost led the league in goal scoring during the regular season (85), it also went through some offensive dry spells later in the season in March. The Frost scored only four total goals during a three-game losing skid from March11-March 26. There was a period where scoring more than two goals a game was a struggle.

The Sirens, a team that had the Frost’s number, shut out Minnesota 2-0 on April 27, leaving the Frost needing two wins and some help to reach the postseason.

Team effort
Like last year, Minnesota dispatched higher-seed Toronto in the semifinals to give itself a shot at defending its championship.

It took everyone, up and down the lineup, to make that happen. Knoll will remember how well the team came together.

“I think that is very unique, but looking back at it, it’s very common for championship teams,” Knoll said. “The teams that win championships need everyone to participate. You don’t have only five or six players going when you win a championship. You have everyone going.

“The way that the group came together after that Worlds (international) break when we needed to most, it was do-or-die. We were almost not going to make the playoffs. To turn it around and make the playoffs with two must-win games and then to have then run we did, it was exceptional, and I’m just so proud of the group.”

The Frost played five consecutive overtime games to end their season, going 4-1 in those games with overtime winners scored by Heise, Curl-Salemme, Knoll and Schepers.

The reality of winning the championship hadn’t sunk in yet for Knoll either at the Cup celebration, though she figured it might as time marches on, especially knowing it’s officially the offseason.

“I think it’ll start to stink in a little bit more,” Knoll said. “Just kind of trying to be a sponge, enjoy the moment, absorb everything. Nothing’s guaranteed in the future. This is the top level of women’s hockey. We’ve reached the top, and that’s so great.

“Enjoying it while we can, because it’s not guaranteed to happen again.”

The Minnesota Frost poses for a team photo with the Walter Cup. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson).